We almost called this thing "Snowcial Winteraction." You get it? It's "snow," "social," "winter," "interaction," and "action" all packed into two cumbersome and hard-to-pronounce words! Anyway, tonight we launch our latest experiment at Volume One, the new Winter After Hours (it's a little easier to understand) in Boyd Park on Eau Claire’s East Hill. As I wrote about in detail in the current issue of Volume One, we’re partnering with the city’s parks and rec department (and a few other local institutions) to make this thing go. There will be skating, snowshoeing, snow sculptures, a fire pit, hot drinks, kubb, music and more – every Thursday from 6-8pm. Get the full details here.

But the purpose of this post is not only to encourage you to check it out tonight, but to prime you for feedback. This winter it’s basically a test run. It’s likely things will get tweaked from night to night this year (and we already know a few things we’re going to improve for next year’s series) but we’re going to need to hear from you on what you think worked, what didn’t, and what should be added if possible. For one thing, you’ll see there are some white lights on the trees around the rink tonight. With Parks and Rec’s help on some changes to the park’s electrical infrastructure, we hope to amp that up a lot more next year. So if you do come out in the next few weeks and you have some thoughts, be sure to leave a comment or email me at nick@volumeone.org. See you at the park!

Also, a BIG thanks to the sponsors and partners that are making this new series a reality. They are: Hillside Dental, Xcel Energy, Metropolis Resort, Play It Again Sports, That’s Adorable, Quality Management Services, Beaver Creek Reserve, Infinitea, Wisconsin Kubb, and more.